Braiding machine



Dec. 22, 1931. v F. w. PLUMB BRAIDING MACHINE 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 14, 1929 INVEN TOR. v fledma l lzlmmz A TTORNEYS.

Filed Sept. 14. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR: fedem Wfflumb,

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 22, 1931 m mmwem or wrist-if upine, PEIxTiTSYIQVANIA, AssIerNoR 'r'o 'rnn- NARROW FA RIC not, or wes itnanine', PENNSYLVANIA, a oon-ronarron or -1 ENNsYLJ BRAIDLINQMACVHISIET 1 a lic tion filed September 14,1929; seriaiivoiseasze.

' The present inventionconsists of improved mechanism for producing. a braided fabric having a varyingcross section' formed by a periodic contraction of aflatfilleiz. 1 c

r The process of braidinga covering upon a filler, and machines for accomplishing this "end are old, and .the present. inventionflconsists 'of novel mechanism, which is in the nature of an attachment adaptingmachlnes now in use forthe aforesaid-purpose.

The machines Icustomarily used,-employ in connection'with feed and takeoff mechanism, means for guiding the filler tape'to' and past a the braiding point, "and thread or yarn. carriers which by their movement apply-abraiding to the filler tape as itpassesthis point.

When the filler tape is flat a braided iprodnot will result which is also flat, and-it is the purpose of this invention to provide an improved mechanism for'carrying out the same, whereby in the braiding of a more or less fiat filler. alternate lengths of the braidedproduct may be-produced in which the cross sections vary from that normally produced to onemore or less roundedand contracted. Such aproduct I have found canbe produced by using a Hat elastic filler tape and by alternate- V H der the. impulse of horn gears- 13 actuated l" increasin and decreasin "thetension eX- a erted-on the same 'so that the tape will alter so.

nately be held against foldingof its edges under pressure of the braiding threads and relaxed to permit folding under this influence. results can be obtained by'deereasing'thistension suddenly with a subseq-uent'gradual taking up of the relaxation of the filler and the increasing of the tension thereof. 1

Aninfluence tending. to the dependability" of and uniformity of the product is the proper deflection thereof in its passing to the take off, which may be accomplished bybending bodiment of my improved mechanism, the

novel features of which are particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

not of ithe mechanism illustrated.

I have found that particularly good thread F, see Fig; 6;

" In the diiawingsf Fig. l'is a side elevationfshowing one 'sect on gof a multi-section braiding machme with the invention applied theretoi y depending end oflthe filler'being twisted from fully Shown in F ig. 6..

its edge showing to indicate; its widtha s.

Fig. 2 is a partial plan section i FigQS-isan end elevation looking the directionof the arrow A in'Figrlj Y igs a as ry h. Win i P edig. 6 shows a section of the product on the linefi fi of Fig. 1 showing the operating relation-of the slot in the former plateth erieplied to onesect'ion ofa multi sectin braidthread carriers-12 are mounted for. travel 1111- through inter-engaging gears 14 connected the w t by leeve 1 W Qh Q T a off gears, are. fi xedg Extending fv'ertically 5 through the table 1s a tubular guide 16 havinga guide member 1662 secured toitsupper end which'is provided with a guide slot arranged at one side of the bore of'the tube as);

shown in Fig. 1,;through which the elastic filler F which is ordinarily in the nature of a 'lf e invention will now be described as apig. isan enlarged cross section through h b a .enj ne 0 3 g-. 4 lo kins n-t direction of the arrow.

fiat tape passes vertioallyto the point at which the braiding takes place, vcommonly known in the art as the braiding point the braiding being accomplished by the move mentsof thethread carriers 12 in a well known manner. vThe slot in member 16a presents a straight edge against the filler, and

the elastic fillerlis Shown as beinginthe na- 'ture of .atape fabricated from strands F of rubber braided together by strands of The machine is provided with ahorizoned for vertical adjustment, the-depending brackets 18 which are provided with slot 19 by means of which they are adju'stablysecured to the bar 17 by the usual connecting means at 19a. To the lower end of each of these brackets is. secured a former 20 of usual construct on, and having a transverse. slot 45 through which the braided product'passes "on its course from the braiding point to the 10. 7

take ofi rollers tobe described.

Adjustably secured in the slot 19 of buck et 18 is a carrier "member 21 on whichis pivoted a braid guide member which fun'ctlons as .a tension varying device and is in the, 11a:

ture'of a bell crank lever 22, at the free end of one arm of which is securer il'a-peripheri- 'cally grooved" roller 23 over which the braidfled filler is drawn by take off mechanism to described, and to the free endoftheother eam is pivotally secured ope-rating rod24 extending lengthwise of the machine, and

' operatedthrough suitablemechan'ism which i wi-1I-nowbedescribed. r 7

A hearing bracket 25 is secured to or forms part. of the machine frame in which are iournaledshafts'flti and '27 the iormer shaft av-ing a WormwhefelQS'seeured to one end,

which is "driven "in: synchronism with" the movement-10f the thread'carriers through a worm29 on a vertical shaft 30 haV-inga gear in driven connection with one-of the gears 1 Lit'hrtmgh' which the horn gears-13', andthe .threadcarriers "are 1 operated as set forth above. V e

A long'tudinally slotted arm 32 is pro- "vided,-p'ivotedya-t one end toa-n extension '33 ofthe bearing bracket '25 as shown at 21%,

' which :arm is pivotally an'dadjustably conv nected with the "ex-tension24 a of operatiri-gmod '24 by means of a bolt-35 extending I through: the slot in disarm; the extension flaa be'i-ng also 'a-dj'ustably connected to the rodfiby a clamp 24?). A roller 36 is also adjustably mounted-onthe -arm"32 by means 7 that between arm-32 and extension 24a may be utilized to effect variations in-the throw otthe bell crank lever '22 upon operation of "the "armv32under influence-oi? the cam 38 on of a bolt 37 which adjustment together with the periphery ofwhich the-roller rides. r

The cam 38 is secured to shaft 27 which is 1 driven from shaft 26 through gears 39 1 and dOse-e'ured to the respective shafts. QT-he cam i'sprovi'ded with a spiral periphery-of gradual risef-rom the low'poi'nt 38a to the high point. '38bbetween which points there is a sudden drop. The consequence of this arrangement when-the mechanism is operating isasudden 66 relaxation-0f the tension on the filler F passslow recovery thereofcomp ared with the-suddenness'of the relaxation after whichthe lfl ler' ing through-the mechanism followed by a is drawn with uniform tension {past the braid point. i Thej filler F,

which is :stated above, "is "in "malty p the slot- 45. informerfid and is-taken Ofi' he;

the nature of a fiat elastic tape, is passed through the feedtensioning device orclamp which may be, as shown, in the nature of tension'rollers 41 and {12 mounted in a suitable bracket 13. extending from the machine frame, one ofthe rollers being mounted so that the tension on the filler may be varied as by means of a set screw 44 and ina well known manner. From this tensioning devlce the filler Ifpass es upward "through the iil'ler guide 16', slotted guide member'lta,Landguide slot 455 in the former 20, which asshown in the bends passing to and around the roller 2.3 on the bell'crank lever 22 described. above the members-16a and ,QQ-norzhally tending [to maintain the. stretched filler bell crank open fiat spread relation, The. is mounted to position the roller23 to one-side of the course of the fillerthrough the guide tube and .past-..thev braiding point; 4 The filler. as. it drawn. along defined by this mechanism, :is braided norat :a poimzadjacent to passing through Fig. 6 presents a straight edge over which the, Course machine and deposited ina suitable receptacle 46 by the usual, take journa'led in the depending arms 50 extending from the'braeket25. The take off rollers, it

will be noted, .a-ne. laterally spaced from the off rollers 47, &8, 1 9,

course of the filler through the tube and past a :hy bolt 56.. The gear :53. is, :replaceably mounted in orderthat it may serve as a changespeed imediium betweengears 51 and .52 t0 varythe F throughthe mechanism as describedaabove. Roller 4.7 is fixedly journaled in- ;the arms '59 While. rollers 48 and :49 are adjustab y mounted elongated slots 5Z soas to per- 7 unit adjustment'of the tension upon the filler;

the rollers being-held inadjustedposition by set screw 58 ;extending through ears .on roller supports 59, which ride in. the slots 57 and the ends of the screws resting on abutmentshl extending from bracket arms ,50.

During itstravel'hlOng-the course as defined above, the elastic of the filler is normally held stretched 'fiatwise between. the tensi'onin'g feed'mechanism 41 42, at one end and the take off' mechan'ism at the other-end and over the. straight edges ofthe slots in members 16a and'20 asset forth above. As

Y {8C1 on Shaft:%, and held in adgusted position 5 10 speed of travel of. the. braided filler the filler passes along its course it is conti-nuous'ly braided prior to its passage through the slot in the former 20, the braidinggpoint being normally just below the said former,

In the meantime cam 238-:is continuously 1'0- tated in synohronism with the operation of the thread holders and in consequence the bell crank lever 22 is turned on its axis alternately in opposite directions and respectively with a quick and a slow movement, ac-

cording as the roller 36 is moving between points 38b and 38a, or between points 38a and 396. Y a

The first of these movements causes a relaxing of the tension of the filler F and the fact that it is held at the feed end'by the feed member at 41-42, a consequent dropping of the braiding point results, spacing it a distance below its normal position adjacent the underside of the former. When the filler is passing through the slot 45 under tension and is turned laterally therefrom around the roller 23 it will be held against the straight edge of the slot in member 20 and this relationship will afford sufficient resistance to the tendency of the braiding threads to turn the edges of the filler and fold it upon itself, when the braiding point is normally positioned, but when the roller 36 drops from high point 386 to low point 38a of the cam 38 with a consequent relaxed tension of the filler and a dropping of the braiding point to a level where the resistance to the pull of the threads isrelieved, as shown in dot'and ed by the relaxed tension of the filler passing over the straight edge of the slot in member 20. This folding of the filler will continue until the roller 36 has traveled suflicient distance on the rise of the cam to take up the relaxation produced by the drop of the roller as above described and until the braiding point has traveled back to its normal position beneath the former, at which point the edge of opening 45 insures that the stretched filler will resist folding action of the braiding threads and again assume a fiat shape. From this point the cam will exert a tensioning influence on the filler which will continue and increase insuring fiatwise braiding of the filler until the high point on the cam is again reached, and when the drop of the roller with a consequent slackening of filler will be repeated and with consequent folding of the filler during braiding; this cycle of operations being repeated so long as the machine is in operation.

Theeffect of this cam action and the distance the braiding point recedes from the former may be varied by adjustment of the roller 36 and of the extension 24a along the arm 32 as set forth above; the distances of the roller and of the nut 35 from the pivotal point 34 of the arm determining the throw of the bell crank 22 and the consequent amount of slackening of the filler. By thisarrangement the proportion of rounded product to the fiat may be varied at will between limits for which the machine is constructed, such proportions remaining constant for each adjusted variation. 7 v

The mechanism as modified by the present invention is particularly adapted to operation on an elastic filler and produces therewith a uniform and dependable product, al-

though satisfactory results for some purposes may be obtained without the use of an elastic filler. The speed of travel of the filler through the machine may be varied by interchanging the gears 53 forming the connecting drive between the 'ear51 on shaft 26-and gear 52 on the shaft 0 47. i

lVhile only oneembodiment of the invention isherein shown and described, it will be apparent that various changes and adapta tions as to detail may be resorted to by one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, within the principles as herein laid down. I do not wish, therefore, to be limited in the scope of my invention except by disclosures in the prior art and by the scope of the appended claims. 7 Y

I claim: Y

1, In combination with a braiding ma chine comprising a series of circularly traversed braiding carriers and a central vertical guide post for a flat filler; take-off mechanism arranged to continuously feed said filler under tension during braiding of the carrier threads thereon, and means for periodically varymg the tens1on so as to cause periodic foldings of the filler by the braiding threads with resulting narrowings ofthe f p product. Y

2. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in

which a determinedly rotated cam is arranged to periodically vary the feeding tension of the filler.

3. A mechanism as set forth in claim l'in which a determinedly rotated cam is adapted to effect a quick reduction in the tensioning of the filler, followed by a gradual increa-se thereof. Y a

4. A mechanism asset forth in claim 1, in 7 Which the take-off mechanism comprises a rockable member over which the covered filler passes from its vertical guide way, and a cam device for rocking said member during the feeding movement of the filler.

5. A mechanism as set forth in claim 1, in which said vertical guide post is provided with a filler-deflecting former Y plate arranged below the braiding point of the machine, and said take-off mechanism is provided with a product-deflecting rockable member located above said braiding point.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FREDERIC W. PLUMB. 

